National Minimum Wage Rates

From October 2010, National Minimum Wage Rates will increase from ~

• £5.80 to £5.93 ph for workers aged 21 and over
• £4.83 to £4.92 ph for workers aged 18 - 20
• £3.57 to £3.64 ph for workers aged 16 - 17

The rise is around the two percent mark in each catagory. As promised, the Government has extended the adult minimum wage rage to 21 year olds from October 2010. Previously, the qualifying age for minimum wage was 22.

Apprentice Minimum Wage - £2.50 per hour

The government has also accepted a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to introduce a minimum wage for apprentices of £2.50 per hour.

The new rate will apply to:

• apprentices under 19
• apprentices aged 19 and over, BUT in the first year of their apprenticeship

The Pay and Work Rights Helpline number is 0800 917 2368, or 0800 121 4042 for textphones.

3500 jobs being created by Intercontinental Hotel Group

Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, is looking to fill 3,500 jobs across the Uk in the next 3 years. The roles include hotel porters, catering assistants, waiters and waitresses, bar staff - all of which are jobs that currently have the highest rates of unemployment at 9.1%. The vacancies have been created as IHG prepares to open up 36 new hotels in the UK over the next three to four years. The company is creating over 100,000 jobs worldwide in the same period as it opens 1,400 new hotels across the globe. For more information, click on www.ihg.com

2010 UKCAT University Admissions Tests

Please note that any student who wishes to apply to study Medicine or Dentistry for 2011 entry (or deferred entry for 2012), it is necessary to sit the UK Clinical Apptitude Test (UKCAT) this summer.

There are 26 Medical and Dental schools who require you to undertake this test as part of the admissions process, and it is offered at a choice of 150 UK high street test centres (300 test centres world wide)

The OPENING DATE for registration is 4th May 2010.

The CLOSING DATE for registering to take this test is 27th September 2010, but there is very high demand and students are advised to register much earlier if interested.

For more information, click www.ukcat.ac.uk

Many, many thanks! Long Road Sixth Form College Annual Careers Event, Wednesday 31 March 2010.

We would like to thank all the exhibitors who donated their time to participate in our annual Careers Event which took place at Long Road Sixth Form College on Wednesday, 31 March 2010. After months of planning, it was great to see the event come together at last. The exhibitors showed a great willingness to share with our students their own careers experiences and give them advice in relation to their own specialism. No doubt, their input will help contribute towards our students' success with future plans.

The students overall expressed that it was an informative and worthwhile event. They also felt that exhibitors were sincere, engaging and helpful.

For us therefore, the day was extremely successful. We enjoyed sharing ideas and working together to create the best Careers Day yet. We are grateful for their commitment and appreciate that they gave freely of their time and energy to make this event not only possible, but a thoroughly enjoyable experience for the students and staff of Long Road.

Our thanks to the following exhibitors:

Addenbrookes Hospital Project Offices (Work Experience, Apprenticeships, Volunteering)
Ambulance Services
Cambridge Cookery School
Cambridge Regional College
Careersbox
Classworks Theatre
College of West Anglia
Connexions
Deloitte & Touche
Fire HQ
Gap Activity Projects Latitude Global Volunteering
Hotel Du Vin
Julie Crick Art Restoration
Marshalls Aerospace
Microsoft Research
Napp Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd.
National Apprenticeship Service
Northern Rock
Not Going To Uni
Orchard Manor Transitions
PMB Theatre & Exhibitions
Police
Premier Training International
Raleigh International
Royal Geographical Society
Royal Society of Chemistry
Schlumberger

2010 Careers Event, Wednesday 31 March, Long Road Sixth Form College